Day 9 - Part 1

After waking up I noticed that Ari still didn't come home, so I took the ring, my sword, and my journal, and headed out to look for her.

I made sure to check every place that I went to yesterday, as well as some places that I've never even gone to before, but she wasn't anywhere. On day 7(the last time I saw her before the disappearance) she told me she was going to the lake area for a swim. I hadn't looked for her there yet since it was probably the safest location in the entire forest, but now I was truly desperate.

When I got to the lake area, I knew something was up right away. Even if another player eliminated Ari from the game, there would need to be a trace of struggle or attack somewhere, but I couldn't find anything. All the bases, secret areas, and even the lake was the exact same as normal. This means that there could only be one possible scenario that explained Ari's disappearance to the fullest.

She was wandering around somewhere and, either by accident or the will of another player, she was trapped in a hidden location, probably without food or water. Since it's been well over 36 hours since then, the hidden location(if it even exists) is probably impossible to get out of once inside. So what did I conclude from this? Nothing.

If Ari were truly trapped in a secure location with no way to get back, she would've just killed herself and re-spawned near the tree house, but that never happened. Maybe she was being restricted somehow? Or maybe after entering the hidden area she was killed by another player? There were just too many possibilities and too little time to find out what was really true. If Ari was still alive somewhere, then she didn't have much time left, so I needed to find her immediately. But how? Do I continue re-examining places that I've already checked? Or maybe spy on the other players' bases for a while? Is there some place I haven't explored yet? Should I sit in the tree house and just wait for her to respawn? There's just too much to think about, and nothing I do could really advance me in any way... unless...

The cave! I didn't check the cave with the diamonds yet! Even if there was just a tiny chance that she got stuck in there, I needed to investigate no matter what.

I ran to the area where the cave was right away, but the entrance was gone. Where it used to be was a solid stone wall, and all the torches were missing. Now I knew something was wrong. In the exact spot where a massive tunnel leading down to a hoard of riches was, there is now a massive wall of stone.

I hammered away at it as hard as I could. At first I used my spade, but I switched over to my diamond sword after a few minutes. The diamond was so hard and dense that it chipped away the stone easily without taking any damage.

When I first poked my head inside, I noticed that it was pitch black but that wasn't all. There also weren't any mobs.

Using the ring's red radiant glow to light my way, I carefully sneaked inside and began my decline. When I got near the lava pit, I could hear voices echoing up the tunnel, so I put my ring away and inched close enough to hear what they were saying.

"So do you really think he'll come to save you?" This voice was clear and light- similar to a young boy's, but a bit more mature with some scratchiness behind it.

"Of course... he'd never leave..." The second voice was definitely a girl's, though dry and cracky. It sounded tired, as if it had been screaming for long periods of time.

"Well do you have any idea when he'll get here? All he's doing now is prolonging your suffering."

"Just wait... when he comes... you're dead..."

"Do you still not realize what position you're in? Even if he manages to get here before you die, there's no way you can be saved. I'm ready to take both your lives no matter what the cost is. I definitely won't allow myself to lose to people like you."

"What you say... you don't believe... just repent... you still can... we'll find a way... beat the game... together..."

*sigh "You're such an idiot. Do you even know why his eyes are red or where his journal came from? Everything is planned by the ones who sent us here. If you refuse to play your part in the game exactly as they want you to, then they'll simply get rid of you. It's as easy as that, and there's no denying it. The second you decided to come here, your fall was put in action from those above us, but for some reason you just won't face the facts. Don't you want to live?"

"I... I..."

Suddenly the second voice began to shake.

"Don't die yet, or this all would've been for nothing. Also praying won't help you anymore. God can't hear us down here."

And with that the voices came to an end. What was going on over there? Where one of the voices Ari, or was this completely unrelated to her... although they seemed to be very interested in me. I should be the only one with red eyes in this game, so I'd say they were talking about me most of the time. I need to just take a quick glance over and see what's going on, but is it the right choice? If one of them see me it could mean game over...

Suddenly I couldn't stand it anymore. After what seemed like forever and a day, I forced myself to take a quick look at what was going on, and when I did, I froze in absolute horror and disbelief.

A/N: And so the craziness continues.